Paul McCartney says he always felt there was something "a little bit suspect" about the late, disgraced Radio 1 DJ and former Top Of The Pops host Jimmy Savile.

Speaking to The Independent, McCartney said he had suspicions about Savile in the heyday of The Beatles.

Savile compered a series of early Christmas shows for The Beatles, and travelled from Liverpool to Yorkshire in the band's van. McCartney says: “He told us all these stories about his wartime exploits how he had been buying chewing gum and nylons and all that, and selling them. He had all sorts of stuff going on. He was the older hustler guy, and we were very amused by these stories because he was a great entertainer."

“But we dropped him off at his place outside his house and we said, 'Can we come in for a coffee’, and he said, 'Oh no, not tonight lads’. When he’d gone we thought, 'Why doesn’t he let us in, what is it?' Because most people would have let us in that we gave a lift to. So we always thought there was something a little bit suspect.”

McCartney also spoke about the prevailing sexual climate of the 1960s, which he describes as "a much more open scene, and you know free love, and the pill had just come in, so it was a completely different scene." He adds that The Beatles were always careful to stay within the confines of the law. "There was a definite no-no involved in underage kids," he says, "Hey listen, we didn’t have to worry. There were plenty of over 16 year olds.”

Scroll down to see a video of McCartney talking about the breakup of The Beatles.